Altair VS. Zai

As Altair entered the waiting room, he found himself in the thick of the other fighters waiting for their turn.  Altair saw many different shapes, sizes, and practices among the men and women gathered.  And to be honest, it was somewhat intimidating.  Altair could almost feel the power coming off of some of them.

Altair took a seat until his name was called.  He knew who his opponent was only by name, but by the looks of things, everyone else knew exactly who he was fighting.  "Poor kid.  Going up against Zai in his first fight.  Sometimes i wonder if the officials just want a blood bath."  He heard one of the men say.  Just what kind of person was this Zai?

The gate opened and Altair walked confidently into the arena, to the cheers of the spectators.  His name was announced, and moderate cheers and applause went up.  Then, on the other side of the arena, a second gate opened.  A man in black and red clothes stepped out.  His hair however was the most startling thing about him.  It was unmistakably that of a Fanalis.  Altair had never been forced to fight one before, but he had heard tales of their brute strength and blinding speed.  Before they could even announce Zai's name, the crowd erupted in a roar of applause and cheers rang out through the stadium.  Then the starting bell rang.

Altair drew his sword and waited for his opponent to close in.  It came far faster than he expected.  In a flash, Zai was in front of Altair, raining down a Flurry of Blows and Feints that Altair could barely react to.  He switched to his first Wasp's Dance to try to deflect the blows, but they came so fast that three still found their mark.  Altair was knocked back, flailing, but Zai continued his assault.  He struck the earth with a Bursting Strike, causing it to explode in Altair's face.  Altair closed his eyes.  He knew this technique.  It was common play to confuse an opponent and then strike from behind.  Altair didn't wait for the dust to clear.  He used his Jackal Slaying technique on the air behind him, but he noticed that while three of his blows caught nothing, his last blow as the dust cleared was blocked by the man's fist in a Bursting Parry.  This was bad.  Altair disengaged, and tried to keep his distance for a moment to come up with a plan.

The crowd cheered at the spectacle, and chants of "Kill him!  Kill him!" rang in the air.  Altair suspected that Zai would do just that if he was unable to do something about his blinding speed.  Altair mentally counted his injuries.  They were all light, save for the deep cuts that the ground had provided his skin when Zai punched the earth.  The man had both speed and power on his side.  And the man was not stupid, he could tell that by the way he fought.  If Altair was to have any chance at beating Zai, his best bet was to simply overwhelm him.

Altair whipped out his Staff then, and with a chant cast his Four-Fold Sigil of Healing directed at Zai.  This Technique could not harm him, in fact it would heal him, but Zai would be unable to tell the difference.  The purple light streaked towards Zai, causing him to run at full speed away from it.  It kept pace behind him as he ran around the arena.  Chanting again, this time Altair unleashed his Crown of Locusts spell in the opposite direction.  The two spells would run along the edge of the arena, heading towards each other at incredible speeds.  Zai would either have to run into the swarm, or come towards Altair.  But Altair had another idea.  He Quivered, getting to top speed as he ran towards the meeting of his healing spell and his swarm.  Altair dragged his sword in the ground behind him, and when all three met, he brought it up in a Sky Uppercut.  Then, Zai did exactly as Altair expected.  He jumped.  Using the momentum from his swing, Altair joined Zai in the air, and here unleashed his actual attack, Slay the Dragon.  In midair, he made a diagonal sweep towards Zai that he quickly tried to deflect, but to no avail as his technique involved moving out of the way, which was impossible in midair.  Altair's blade plowed past his defense, and left Zai with a devastating cleave from shoulder to hip.  They landed, Zai in a heap and Altair on his feet.  His healing spell hit Zai then, and did a good job of slowing and eventually stopping the bleeding.  Zai would not die from his attack.

The crowd erupted in cheers once again, but this time the praise was directed at Altair.  Altair held his sword high, and let out a deep laugh.  He had won.

Attacks:

Magoi/Stamina: 110/250